FWP biologist to talk about grizzlies and climate change
A grizzly bear in this file photo.
Hungry Horse News
Cecily Costello, grizzly bear research biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, will provide a free, educational presentation about how climate change is affecting grizzly bears in Montana and the implications for their continued recovery on Friday, June 23 at 7 p.m. at the Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier Park.
As part of her presentation, Costello will discuss recent research that suggests climate change is altering grizzly bear food availability, leading to shifts in bear behavior and distribution and ultimately to more conflicts with people. Costello has nearly 20 years of extensive field research with both black and grizzly bears.
She currently supervises the interagency grizzly bear population trend monitoring program in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (which includes Glacier National Park) and is also a member of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Costello’s presentation is the third in the monthly Two Medicine Voices Speakers Series hosted by the Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance that explores the effects of climate change on the Crown of the Continent ecosystem. Next month, Glacier National Park vegetation biologist Dawn LaFleur, looks at the impacts of invasive plants. More information on the series and recordings of past speakers are available on Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance’s website at www.glaciertwomedicine.org.